Court settlement filed over West Virginia mine pollution

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Environmentalists and the Pocahontas Land Corp. have agreed to settle a lawsuit over coal mine drainage into streams in southern West Virginia.

The environmental groups say Pocahontas' former White Flame mountaintop-removal mine in Mingo County continues to discharge selenium, dissolved solids, sulfates and other pollutants into tributaries of the Tug Fork River.

The proposed consent decree filed Friday in federal court says Pocahontas will test the water and apply for a Clean Water Act permit from the state to address issues.

The Sierra Club says that when the mine was shuttered, Pocahontas' mining permits were released and the company was no longer held responsible for ongoing pollution from waste-disposal sites.

Pocahontas' attorney did not immediately reply to requests for comment.